Brigg's Birthday

 
 
 
  

More Pictures

 
 
 
  
Well, we had a wonderful celebration of Brigg's 5th Birthday on Thursday. Then we celebrated AGAIN on Friday and then the family celebrated AGAIN on Saturday. What a lucky boy he is! :) I was unable to attend the celebration on Saturday, but heard it was quite an eventful gathering. I was sad to miss it, but I had to work. :( The pictures are of the two celebrations I was able to attend. I think that it should be a regular thing to have 3 days of celebration for birthdays. Brigg had so much fun and got a ton of gifts. I can't believe my first nephew is 5!!!!!! He is such an appreciative and sweet little boy! He thanked everyone for his gifts and was truly overwhelmed with exitement as he opened each gift...even when he opened the cards he had gotten in the mail, he was ecstatic! He is AMAZING! It has been an honor to say he is my nephew for the past 5 years and I can't wait to watch him grow into a man! I love him more than words can express. I am so blessed to have all of my neices and nephews, and thank God every day for them!

I need prayer...

Despite my efforts to keep myself busy, I am finding myself overwhelmed with impatience. I guess it might not be impatience, but anxiety possibly. I have filled every minute in my day doing things to keep my mind off of "the wait". I started to different bible studies (one on patience!) and I have gotten on a roll with my rug, which is looking FABULOUS, and keep plugging along on my blanket as well. You would think that I wouldn't have time to think about "the waiting", but that is WRONG! While doing these things such as the rug and blanket...I am left sitting in silence to think. Thinking is BAD for me right now!!!! All I can do is think..."maybe my profile isn't good enough!" , "is that other couple's online profile better than ours?", "I don't have a diaper bag yet, I need to find one so I have one when we get the baby!", "we don't have a rocker/glider yet, and I will want one right away when we get the baby so we should go get one.", "what if we don't get a baby soon and I run out of projects to keep me busy!", "what if Sean is so busy with school and work that he has trouble finding time to be with us and to bond with the baby!"

And those are just a few of the thousands of thoughts that went through my head just today! AAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! I NEED PRAYERS! I know that a lot of these thoughts are silly, but in the moments when I am thinking them...they don't seem silly at all. I have CONSTANT butterflies in my stomach and can't stop thinking about the adoption. I am not only thinking crazy thoughts...don't get me wrong, I have excitement and happy visions of the future in my head, but I am afraid that all of these thoughts put together are going to drive me to that unbearable impatience that I am desperately trying to avoid. HELP!

On a brighter note...I am going to be with family this weekend and am soooo looking forward to seeing Brigg for his 5th birthday! I can't believe how fast 5 years has gone by!!!! Then, in a couple short weeks, Sean and I are vacationing to Florida with the Knutsons for 11 days! That will be so nice to get away and relax...hopefully I can clear my mind while I am there!

Online Profile

Our online profile is up and available to see on Bethany.org, so just go to the box that says "Family Profiles" and go to Iowa and we're on the 2nd page. Check it out!

The Wait

I know that Sean and I have been waiting for a baby for a few weeks now, but today the "official wait" started. The reason is because we have absolutely NOTHING left to do through Bethany Christian Services. The next time we hear from them...it should be good news!

Today we had our in home study. Our social worker came to our home for a couple of hours and spent time asking us questions and finishing our study. It went very well! Shortly after that, we got a call from the Bethany director telling us that our Criminal checks had come back and to be checking the family profiles on the Bethany website this week for our profile.

Bethany has placed 2 children since the 4th of July! That is so wonderful! One of the waiting couples that we know was place with a little boy about a week ago and we are so happy for them. Everything went smoothly for them and their experience was great! We pray that we could be so blessed!

I began making a rug today for the nursery and WOW it is TEDIOUS!!!!!! I am going to keep at it though. It will definitely be keeping me plenty busy as I realized that it is a slow moving project and takes a TON of time to do. It will be very satisfying to finish though. In addition to that, I am still finishing up the blanket I am crocheting, so I have plenty of projects to keep me busy. :)

Sean is getting more and more excited about our upcoming adoption, too. It's becoming extremely real for the both of us as each item on our list is checked off. I don't think it could feel any more real than it already does...that is until we get the baby! The wait continues...

Adding to the list...

I am adding another project to my list of "Things to do before the baby arrives". This weekend I looked for a rug for the nursery and found it extremely difficult to find a rug in the correct color and size that I needed. The one I did find was not that large and it was $129.99! SO, I am making a rug for the nursery! I am going to buy the necessary items tomorrow and hopefully start it soon. I have never made a rug before, but am anxious to give it a try. I got directions from Melissa's mom and saw one that she has made before and LOVE it, so I think I will attempt the task! :) I'll post a picture when it's done...although it may never get done if we get a baby before it's finished. So part of me hopes it doesn't get done. :) Apparently it's a tedious task and it takes a while, so it may not get finished, BUT it will keep me busy!

Bode's Birthday Party!

 
 
 
  

Yummy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 
 
  

 
 
 
  

As you can see in these pictures, Bode didn't really like his cake that much! He could barely choke it down. Looks like Chris and Brenda have a health nut on their hands! HA!

It was hilarious watching Bode eat his ENTIRE cake. He LOVED it and then chugged his whole sippy cup full of milk! He is definitely a Stewart! Then he stayed up to party with the adults until after 10:00 pm. It was a GREAT party!

Parallel Play!

 
 
 
  

Parallel Play was great! Everyone had so much fun! Grandpa danced and Cassie got up with the band and sang. A great time was had by all!

2 Items Closer to Impatience!!!!

 
  
There were several things that I have been doing to keep me busy while we await the arrival of our baby...looking for the perfect lamp, working on my "art project" to hang on the wall, buy a glider/rocker, hang all the pictures and finish crocheting a blanket for the baby. Well, in the last couple of days, I completed 2 1/2 of those tasks. I've hung 1/2 of the pictures, bought the PERFECT lamp and finished my art project. These are a couple of pics of my lamp and art project. Hopefully the other items will keep me busy until we get a baby, otherwise, we may end up with a nursery full of "art projects" I had to do to keep me from getting impatient. :) Ha.

Just bored...

I am sitting at my computer...awake. I wish I was tired. Sean is sleeping and I can't for some reason. I have read everyone's blog that I know and so thought I would post on mine!

Today was a good day. I worked :(. Then Sean and I went to Chris and Brenda's and grilled and hung out with them and Poleys. It was a good time. We watched Rock Star SuperNova and played with Bode and Landon. Then Sean and I headed home and did the final cleaning out of the nursery. It is ready for baby!!!! Although, I bought a lamp today from Pottery Barn Kids for the nursery and I was sooooo excited! It is PERFECT in the room...but when I took it out of the box, I noticed that the lamp was chipped. :( Then I had to box it all back up again and will be exchanging it for a new one tomorrow. I think that God is just keeping me busy so that I can't get impatient! :) And I am completely okay with that because I have yet to stray from the patience I have had regarding the adoption. Once I get the lamp in the room, all we have to do is get a glider and I am working on a small art project for the room too, OH, and I am also crocheting a blanket for the room. If all of those things get done and we STILL don't have a baby...I may become impatient! Pray for me! :) No, I won't let that happen, I'll just take on another project if that happens.

Looking forward to family time this weekend. Times spent with family are my favorite times! I can't believe that Bode will be 1 this weekend! WOW! Time flies! Also, looking forward to watching Parallel Play (Chris's band)!!!

Bode's First Zit!

  
This picture does not do the zit justice at all! It was pretty big for such a little boy! Just before I popped it, I snapped this pic so we could all have a keepsake of his first zit! Ha. He's turning into a young man!!! :)

Bode's 1st Haircut!

 
 
 
I gave Bode his 1st haircut today! He was sucha good boy and now he looks so old!!! :) I took a good 2 inches off the top of his hair, so he was in need of a haircut for sure! He is too cute! 

The nursery!

 
 
We got the nursery pretty much done today. We hung the adorable pictures I got from mom and it looks so great in there! I know I posted pics of the crib a few days ago, but thought I would let everyone see the dressar and pictures too! Now we are just awaiting the baby that will make the picture complete! :) 

Weekend family fun!

 
 
 
  

 
 
  
We had a great weekend this weekend. We went to Colo for some family time on Saturday and stayed the night and then went to church this morning before we headed home. Sean's Dad grilled yummy food and we hung out and played a board game and played with our niece and nephew Leah and Tyler. Aren't they adorable??!!! They grow so fast! I got both of them some 4th of July pj's and so we had a photo session with them in their new pjs. Too cute! It was a great time!